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Marketing - for a low volume carry out and delivery store (14k/mo) from what single form of advertising would you get the best bang for your buck and what would the frequency of said advertising be ? Thanks
I would most likely do door hangers in the following way…
Break your trade area into zones. Let’s say you have 20,000 homes/apartments in your area… carve out 4 or 5 zones of 4,000-5,000 homes each zone…
Then doorhang one single zone 4 times in 30 days (the zone where most of your business currently comes from would be a good start).
The reason: People buy when they’re ready to buy… not when you’re ready to doorhang. So getting in front of the same people throughout the month greatly increases your chance of being in the right place at the right time.
Then… move on to the other zones in the same fashion. The key is to narrow the “reach” and increase the “frequency.”
Put these customers in your database for follow-up marketing… or better yet… a loyalty program (that’s because a discount or coupon only drives a single visit… on the other hand - earning rewards motivates customers to make multiple purchases in order to earn the reward)…
There are lot’s of loyalty programs out there to choose from… mine is http://www.repeatreturns.com
To higher sales,
Kamron
Hi Kamron,
A little back round info before I ask a question.
My pizzeria was established in 1959. Through the years we have expanded our menu but our pizza has always remained the same. My pizzeria has evolved into a place to come and get fresh food fast. In the early '90’s we were the first pizzeria around to offer drive thru service.
We have expanded our menu and our dinning area this year. We are now offering jumbo wings in 16 gourmet flavors. Our customers think that they are some of the best wings ever! We have done ok with the wings so far. It has increased our sales 5%. I would like to sell a lot more wings. Maybe double what we are now. We have two package deals that feature 1. classic pizza and wings and 2. our thin crust pizza and wings. We only get 6 package deals ordered each week.
What do you think we could do to sell more wings?
Thanks for your time.
Paul
Claysburg Pizza
Paul,
First of all… let me say 1959 was a very good year… I arrived on the planet February 7th of that year…
Anyway a 5% increase on wing sales is nothing to be embarrassed about… and I like that you want more…
Have you sampled the wings to everyone? Have you run an introductory offer? A survey?
It takes time and persistance to change behavior… and then, you need to ask yourself if “wings” are the ticket to higher sales… or not.
Watch this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7dG-YGA … _embedded#!
I think it will makes sense… also…
If you want to kick this around, call my office: 702-966-3001 (normal business hours PST) just tell whoever answers that you’re Paul from the PMQ chat room…
I feel a chat will be better at problem solving in this instance… and then I can post a sumarry here so all can see what we arrived at…
Kamron
Thanks, I will call.
Kamron,
I own a small pizzeria in a small tourist town. I have been open a little more than 3 years now, and things are going good. I am always trying to find ways to increase business. But my problem is that the town I live in is really hard to advertise in. I can’t have a sign out by the highway, or even a lit sign (or open sign) in front of my business. So it is very hard for me to reach out to the tourist that come to my town, because I’m off the beatin’ path. I always drive through town on busy weekends (where there is an hour wait at most restaurants) only to get to my store with maybe 2 tables of people eating. So is there anything that you can advise? Thanks for your time. -Ryan
Ryan… sounds like a little bit of “out of sight - out of mind.”
Full disclosure here: I own Repeat Returns Loyalty Marketing Company… here’s a tactic many of our merchants use.
- Get a loyalty/rewards program in place.
- Enroll locals who have contact with the tourists - into your program…
- Give them business cards that have THEIR loyalty # on them - your address, and some type of offer…
- Scenario below: Then give them a reason to aggresively hand them out to every tourist they encounter…
- When tourists show up with card in hand… give points to the “local” who sent them over…
Picture this scene with Bob the Bell-hop at the local hotel: Bob, I’ve enrolled you in my Pizza Perks program. And every time you stop in you’ll earn points that get you closer to getting free meals. And since you work here at the hotel, I’ve also printed some cards for you - every time you refer someone to my pizzeria, I’ll give YOU points for the money THEY spend. That way, you’ll be earing free meals all the time…
Who do you think Bob will start refering tourists too?
You want to enlist people of influence who have regular contact with the tourists… heck, it can even be non-competing places like the local coffee shop or breakfast place… but think: Hotels, Car rental, tourist recreation areas, etc.
Put a little leg work into this and you’ll build a solid ongoing, and highly motivated referral network…
Kamron
Thanks for the advise. Thats a great idea about the referals. Im going to get some things printed up, and get it a try. -Ryan
Love your “black book” I received it few years back during a David Scott Peters class. A few question(s). In today’s social media rich market has this change the focus on any of the main marketing points in your book? What remains the “top ten” must do marketing items that a single unit pizzeria should be doing, right now? What are your thoughts on branding vs. local store marketing for a single unit restaurant. Thanks, I can’t wait to hear back
Social media, the internet and email have all - leveled the playing field. It used to be you had to take out a mortgage to run a serious ad campaign… now… (if you’re smart)… you’ll:
[list]Get a customer in the door
Have them join your loyalty program
Market “one-on-one” to them from that point forward[/list]
As far as “Black Book” marketing techniques? All solid stuff. Things that make ANY communication more effective. Concepts like “reach and frequency” - benifit loaded headlines… offers that don’t rely on discounting…
The Black Book was certainly an investment at $597.
You can get “Gun to the Head Marketing” for twenty bucks (it actually became one of the top selling advertising books on amazon last year - crazy!)…
…it goes into a lot of detail on the new marketing landscape…
http://www.amazon.com/Gun-Head-Marketin … 422&sr=8-1
Kamron
Great stuff Kamron, thought I’d say hello!
I agree with your social media statement - it’s important to keep that one-to-one connection moving forward with customers…repeat business is extremely important, and critical to long term growth and sales forecasting.
These days the highest-performing/lowest-cost marketing and retention programs go something like this:
*Use direct mail (or other highly invasive platform) to ACQUIRE new customers and develop new markets (this costs bucks)
*Capture customer data ON FIRST call/click/visit/sale
*Use ultra low-cost digital platforms (txt msg, email, facebook, twitter, etc) to keep them coming back
In other words, operators should expect to pay for the first sale and then never pay for the same customer’s order again.
Keep up the good work man!
-Chris Barr
Chris… that’s the remarkable benefit of the digital age… the playing field has become more even than ever… no longer is a massive budget - the mom-n-pop killer it used to be…
KK
I just listened to your interview with Dave Ostrander (both CDs) for about the 10th time and it’s really useful stuff. I’m wondering about menu layout for direct mail menus. The conventional wisdom of menu design is to focus on high-profit items. But I find myself disagreeing with the menu designer…I want my customers to focus on the things we do best so that they come back. Our Cheese Bread may have a good margin, but in the end, it’s just whirl on bread with garlic salt and cheese. But our N9ne pizza is an orgy of zesty meats and fresh vegetables that everyone seems to remember. Any thoughts on who is right in this dispute?
Your insticts are pretty good… if high selling items are also “high profit” great… but just hammering away at a high-profit item because of that reason ALONE… is wishful thinking at best… and lost revenue at worst…
Advertise, promote, and sell people - what THEY want to buy…
I think you’ll find this video helpful…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w7dG-YGAY8Y
KK
“I just listened to your interview with Dave Ostrander (both CDs) for about the 10th time”
What CD’s are these?
The CD was from the Platinum package that went with the Black Book… they’re sold out…
KK
Sounds good, I will definitely check it out at some point.
If I delivered 20,000 menus every week, what reponse would I likely to achive? per 1000 delivered
How many repeat customers should i get? provided the like the product and service
20,000 menus will get you plenty of business. Might see 3-5% response depending on offer and how well you “sell” your product…
As far as retention… that will be earned over time… one menu drop is not going to completely change a person’s habit… what if they get an offer from their favorite pizza shop three days after they visit you?
You’ll gain tremendously more traction by dropping menus to the same houses once a week for an entire month… that will catch most folks around their normal pizza buying cycle… and build awareness and momentum…
You should also capture contact info (email address at a minimum)… and start communicating directly with anyone who has visited your shop…
A loyalty program will be a good start… and you should explore mobile marketing too… half of all local search is done on mobile now… so offering mobile deals will help you pull in additional people who are on the hunt for pizza…
KK